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Introduction

EnGenius is known more for its access points and outdoor Wi-Fi bridges and isn't a big consumer networking player. Nonetheless, they apparently think they have a shot at getting traction in the consumer Wi-Fi System market as a (very) late entry.

The EnMesh Whole Home Wi-Fi System is yet another Qualcomm-based three node mesh-type Wi-Fi system using older devices that make each 2x2 node AC1200 class.

There are two gigabit Ethernet ports, power port and USB 2.0 port on the rear, the latter supporting SMB storage sharing. Like most other Wi-Fi systems, there's a Bluetooth radio and iOS and Android apps for "onboarding", aka setup. The shot of the bottom of the device shows screw mounting slots for your convenience.

EnMesh rear panel

There is one multicolor LED on the front and a reset hole on the rear. The LED flashes blue during setup to indicate Bluetooth use and steady white, orange or red to indicate "stable", "spotty" and no network connection.

EnMesh LED color decoder

Inside

EnGenius released the FCC ID photos, so I didn't open the EnMesh up for component identification. Since the product's FCC ID is A8J-EMR3000V2, I just had to look at the EMR3000(v1), which never made it to market.

Aside from mesh in the product's name, however, the user manual filed with the FCC lacks any detail on "mesh" features. The V1 was also Qualcomm-based, with one of the radios on a mini-PCIe card and had a single dedicated gigabit WAN port and four-port LAN gigabit switch.

EnMesh V1

The V2 hews closer to what has become the standard for mesh system "pucks", except it uses older components than most. The inside shot shows the two 2.4 GHz and two 5 GHz bent-metal antennas mounted on a metal plate. The plate also serves as a heatsink thermally coupled to at least one of the RF can tops below it, if the FCC photos accurately represent the current design.

EnMesh inside

The next photo, with heatsinks and RF can tops removed shows separate 2.4 and 5 GHz Qualcomm radios on the left and two Atheros gigabit Ethernet PHYs on the right.

EnMesh board top

The bottom view shows the connectors and TI CC2564B Bluetooth radio

EnMesh board bottom

The table compares EnMesh's key components against Google Wifi and TP-Link Deco M5, which also do not have a second 5 GHz radio.